The Most Cherished Gift
by blackhairedbaroness
Summary: When Lily finds herself splattered with a water balloon thrown by Peeves, she finds herself in an unthought of scenario with James.
1. Chapter 1

Lily's POV

Lily was absolutely exhausted. Charms were usually a piece of cake for her but during this particular Charms class, it was difficult even for her. They were doing advanced level of Charms along with wand-less Charms. Added to that, James and his 'cronies' were finding it exceptionally easy and so they decided that annoying the hell out of Lily and her friends qualified as 'class-work'.

Lily's state of mood was easy to guess. Right now she was vacillating between cursing James Potter and his friends into oblivion or simply coming up with a plan to get even with them.

On entering Gryffindor tower, Lily noted that it was more occupied and noisier than usual. Or maybe it was the already stretched state of nerves, which was making everything, seem twice the more irritating. Deciding she needed a total state of peace and silence, she decided to head to the Prefects' Lounge. It was surely unoccupied at this time of the day and she was guaranteed some quality time to work on her 42-inch essay given in Transfiguration.

Making her way to the desired lounge, she was absently walking along when a particularly large water balloon landed on her with a very loud 'splat!' Doused in ice-cold water and frantically looking around for the culprit, she saw Peeves zooming away cackling. What the hell!

Taking a deep breath so as to not let her usual fiery temper get the better of her, she marched along to her desired destination. One reaching it, she quickly gave the password and made her way to her favourite corner and put down her books. Looking down at her uniform, Lily decided to take off her blouse and let it dry. Besides she was guaranteed some privacy here so she wasn't too worried about being caught without a shirt.

Soon, Lily was industriously busy with her homework and within no time she was done with her required 42-inch essay. Being the top student she was, she concluded that getting ahead with her Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies essays was also probably a good idea and so she opened her books again. Besides her shirt was still not dry yet…

Half way through, irritation with James caught up with her and she had no patience with her books. Soon her mind was happily employed with various scenarios where Potter and his friends were at the receiving end of some particularly nasty hexes by her and their after effects. Deciding to sleep on the finer details of various revenge possibilities, Lily dozed off.

James POV

James was still thinking about the prank the Marauders had come up with to surprise the school next Hogsmeade weekend. It involved some heavy spell work and a lot of Charms. Coincidentally some of the Charms involved were what was being taught today in class. Since all four of them were pros at it by now, they decided to change the colour of Lily's hair and her friends into exotic shades.

Thinking of Lily, James sighed. When will she finally notice him 'that' way? The only reason why he pestered her to death and annoyed the hell out of her was because that was when her attention was solely on him. He loved everything about her, even her anger. Sirius and Remus had said that he was a masochist who loved poking the dragon in the eye all the time just for the kicks.

But like he could help it! Lily was so beautiful … even in her anger, her emerald eyes sparkled. The fire in them added to her personality. She always wore decent clothes and never resorted to artificial methods of beautifying herself. She didn't need to. He loved her just the way she was and found her beautiful even in a simple tee and pants. The only one time Lily wore a short skirt that clung to her legs.. James thought processes were in a state of shutdown for the entire day. That skirt haunted his nights from that day on.

Deep in Lily- obsessed thoughts; he was barely looking where he was walking. Suddenly he looked up and got his face drenched in water balloons being thrown around by the castle's poltergeist. Ugh! Where is the nearest restroom again?

Seeing that he was in the 5th floor of the castle and close to the Prefect Lounge, he decided to visit there and clean up. Having Remus as a prefect was surely an added advantage…

Giving the password, he entered, already tugging at his shirt and unbuttoning them. He turned around a corner and saw that someone was there already and in a state of being partially un-dressed. Being the gentleman that he was, he decided to wait patiently and let the person cover himself or her up.

Lily POV

In the meantime, Lily awoke from her nap when she heard the Prefects' Lounge door opening. She was feeling much better and more relaxed. She had heard footsteps in the room and wasn't sure if she had dreamed it or not. Looking around she saw her now dried shirt and she grabbed it to put it on.

Just as she was about to put one hand through the sleeves, she heard a gasp. Startled, Lily whirled around unthinkingly and her eyes met a pair of hazel eyes behind round glasses. James Potter was staring at her with an unfathomable expression.

Lily instantly colored under his gaze and was still scrambling for words in her head when he suddenly stepped forward. Lily was mortified. Here she was standing without her shirt and the nerve of Potter! Instead of being a gentleman and turning around to give her some privacy, he was proceeding towards her.

Lily's temper rose and she was opening her mouth to thoroughly abuse him and his lack of manners when James Potter was upon her and kissing her – hard. The force of the kiss pushed her against the wall and James held her there. She couldn't escape even if she wanted to.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she realized that his shirt was open. He was sucking on her lower lip now and she stopped thinking. Her left arm was holding onto support by grabbing his right shoulder and her left hand was caressing his messy hair. Her right hand was unthinkingly moving across his muscled chest and abdomen. James moaned into her mouth and grabbed her waist tight with both arms.

Lily kissed him back with a fervor that could have set the lounge ablaze and she wouldn't have noticed. She was caught in some rip tide of hidden feelings for James she had that she didn't know about. Though she was topless, James never took advantage of it and his hands firmly stayed at her waist.

His kiss was assaulting her senses and she wasn't pausing to consider her actions. She felt his body pressing against hers and she arched her back. Her left leg hitched up itself on its own accord near his hip. And she moaned into James's mouth as her hand reached his belt buckle.

Suddenly James broke apart and staggered back.

James POV

The sound of movement caught his attention and he decided the person inside must have dressed himself or herself by now. He decided to take a peek just to make sure. A flash of red hair and green eyes caught his full attention. He turned around fully without thinking to make sure he wasn't hallucinating about Lily.

Lily noted his presence and looked at him with fury in her eyes. He knew he was in danger but his brain couldn't register anything but the way Lily looked in her skin. He knew there would be hell to pay but he couldn't help himself.

He took those steps forward he always wanted to and kissed her as hard as he always wanted to. But he didn't want to take advantage of her. He loved her so much and seeing her dressed like that took a toll on his feelings for her. He always wanted her and he was a man. There wasn't much that he could do to stop himself.

When he felt Lily's hand roaming on his chest he couldn't hold back that moan. And when she hitched her leg up while kissing him, it was pure torture to him. He kept telling himself to stop and that it was wrong of him to take advantage of Lily like this but he found himself that he didn't want to stop.

He was a man who was just being kissed back by the woman he loved. What could he do? But when he felt Lily's hand on his belt buckle, reality crashed down on him like a tidal wave. Lily would regret this in her senses. He could never bear to be a regret in Lily's life. He loved and respected her too much to be a 'regret' and a mistake.

He had to break it and it took his entire will power to do so.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily POV

It was the 6th of December and we were having a prefects' meeting during that weekend. Since weekends were casual wear at Hogwarts I decided to give my simple tee and jeans a break and instead donned a white lace semi-transparent blouse, deep purple silk skirt, black stockings and black suede wedges. I made an effort to look nice that day because the girls and me were planning to sneak out that evening for a drink at Madame Rosmerta's. I had framed my waist length away from my face in a delicate manner. But with the bitterly Scottish wind whom was I kidding? It would probably last three seconds flat.

Once I was done I made my way to the Prefects' Lounge to set it up before the rest of the students piled in. As the Head Girl it was my duty to be on time … though I cannot say much about my counterpart. I paused while thinking about him. _James Potter_. The boy who kissed me during our fifth year in this same room and we never talked about it again. Of course the fight and eventual break away from Severus didn't exactly warm me up to Potter despite what had happened. I really did avoid him for the longest time and he continued to harass me like he used to before we kissed. Argh.

Eventually the rest of the prefects streamed in and obviously; no prizes for guessing who entered last. _Potter_ may be Head Boy but he certainly did not earn the position in my opinion. Although I have to admit that he was 'tolerable' as compared to the last few years. Finally somebody must have knocked some sense to deflate his huge head.

With the meeting underway, we shifted to the patrolling list for the prefects. We were standing in a circle around a teacher's desk when I felt him standing behind me. I ignored him as I continued appointing the delegations to the prefects. Potter had an incessant need for attention and I wasn't going to oblige him anytime soon.

While listening to one Ravenclaw prefect's request for a change of patrol date, I felt Potter's hand sliding up from the middle of my back to my shoulder. I did not move and my whole body automatically tensed up. He noticed that and he shifted closer to stand right behind me while my head was bowed. He took advantage of my long red hair and the semi-darkness to lightly place his fingers on my waist. I jumped very slightly and he held me steady.

What on earth was Potter trying to do!? Did he have a death wish?

As no one noticed anything different, he continued the conversation from where I had left off with the prefects around us. His hands skimmed my waist and hips up and down twice while I was frozen. He lowered his hand and grabbed my right hand, which was fisted. He caressed my wrist and fingers so softly that I opened my tight fist. He slid his fingers in between the small gaps of my fingers and held my hand. The gesture was so staggering especially since it was Potter that I unconsciously moved backwards, lightly running flush into his muscled chest. My eyes widened when I felt something hard above my derriere against my back.

Suddenly people noticed our proximity and I muttered some stupid excuse to shuffle away. More like escape really! For a second he gripped my hand harder but let my hand free itself from his hold.

I walked as quickly as I could to the ladies' room to stop myself from hyperventilating. What was that?! What is Potter trying to play at? That was not professional behaviour. But then I scoffed. It is _Potter_ I am talking about. No matter how much of a professional get up he might show before the other prefects and professors upon getting the damn badge, he was still an utter git. This is probably another one of his stupid methods to unnerve me further after giving me a reprieve from his brand of harassment during the summer holidays.

All of a sudden the bathroom door opened and I heard a heavy footstep. I looked up and I was shocked to see that it was Potter standing in front of me. I am sure my face registered nothing but an expression of speechless shock. He walked closer and my head rose in defiance to not break the stare I was locked in with him. He crowded my personal space and looked down at me from his impressive height. He slowly raised his hand to my cheek, slid his fingers in my hair and held my captured face softly.

"So beautiful…"

My eyes widened even further and I could not focus on anything except that his face was slowly looming closer to mine. My mind stopped functioning because I could not register what was happening between us. Why am I not stopping him? Why am I not pushing him away like the pest I always deemed him to be? What changed now? Is this going to be another repeat of fifth year?

Before I could answer my own questions he kissed me. _He_ kissed _me_. He _kissed_ me. AGAIN.

His other hand held my waist and walked us backwards into the wall. He pressed his body into mine and I still could not believe what was happening. He leaned down again to kiss me harder and it felt so good that I could not stop the small "oh" that escaped. Of course he took advantage of that. He sucked my lower lip and bit it slightly, soothing it immediately with his hot tongue. He slid his hand lower and squeezed my derriere, shocking me enough with his audacity to say another "oh". He whispered "Mmm, watermelon." before sliding his tongue in my mouth and coaxing me into responding.

Ahh… it was getting so hot. I felt so warm… and protected. That realization seeped in my mind soon enough for me to respond to him in a manner that met his approval. Potter apparently had a knack to make me stop thinking of repercussions! I did not notice that my fingers were in his hair _again_, holding him to me and kissing him _again_ like I meant it. He pressed me further into the wall and I could not escape.

I could feel his arousal against my stomach and it was exciting me. I could feel his hand sliding under my skirt gliding over my stockings and I was getting embarrassed. No guy had ever touched me there before even over clothing! I was so out of breath that I couldn't look him in the eye before I whispered out his name as a plea to stop and .. also to keep continuing. I suddenly wanted more but I was afraid because of what it could lead to. I was more afraid of what it might mean and why was I allowing him to do this to me again. _What is wrong with me?!_

He opened his eyes and his pupils were completely dilated. He said, "Lily, you have no idea how long I have wanted this." I was still in a daze to formulate a usual scathing reply to his confession. He then took both his hands and placed them against the wall. He pressed me right in to the wall until I was squished before rubbing his arousal against me over and over. I swear I was 'hard pressed' to not respond to that. Potter has a way with pressing girls into walls. The jerk.

He said, "I want you so much Lily and you are looking like that…" I could not stop myself from blurting, "James this is wrong. You are supposed to be the counterpart to my head girl and we are supposed to be … not doing _this_! Whatever happened in fifth year was a one time accident and we should stop." I could see him deflating in front of me and he snapped, " I fucking know that Lily. But it is fucking difficult to control myself against you. And you look like .. argh .. I blame your skirt." I said, "James please let me go. Anyone can walk in and we will be caught!" Now I was really close to panicking.

He let me go and I ran into the nearest cubicle bolting myself in because I was really afraid. Not of him. I was afraid of myself. He interrupted my hyperventilation by saying; " This is going to happen _again_ Lily because I am going to do it again." He then walked out leaving me alone to my panicked thoughts.

I could not believe what had just happened.

I walked out of the bathroom after trying to compose myself the best I could before anyone else could get suspicious. Needless to say his eyes followed me for the rest of the meeting while I remained nervous and quiet. When it came to heading back to the dorms, I chose to go with Remus to avoid James.

That night I dreamt about what could have happened if I had not stopped him at the moment I did in the bathroom. Or during fifth year. What am I doing?


End file.
